May 5, 2015
Ken Schiewetz, Nancy Krueger, Michelle Egusa, Mark Bunger, and Vicki Bengeult were in attendance. A quorum was present.
April minutes were approved with one addition to the Stream Mitigation Section: “Mr. Sorenson established an escrow account for the new owner to cover mitigation expenses. The extent to which this will cover costs is unknown.” Full copy of amended minutes is available on the website.
Work parties on May 9, 16
Thanks to all who came on May 2nd! We were able to get a lot of work accomplished.
We still have work parties scheduled for the mornings of May 9th and 16th, 9 to noon.
There is still plenty of work to be done. Drywall in the lifeguard closet and pump room is being replaced with cement board. We need to clean the gutters, pull weeds, trim the blackberries, install several lights, paint and get ready for opening on the 23rd. Hope to see you there!
Drainage problems in pool/playground area – Mark Bunger
Stan French of Lakehaven Utility District recommended Robinson-Noble, a geo-technical engineering firm to consult with us about the surface water at the parking lot and playground areas at the pool. On April 14, 2015, 1:00 pm, several board members and I met with Rick Powell, Principal Geotechnical Engineer of Robinson-Noble to inspect and discuss the surface water issues. We discussed where the water was coming from and how it affects the parking/playground areas.
If the water is coming from the Mirror Lake aquifer or if just coming down the hill from the slope, he stated there is nothing we can do to prevent that from happening. We can only handle it when it gets to our property. Rick looked at the slope on the east side of the pool, behind the fence. He felt the slope was not steep enough to worry about a landslide. The playground area was discussed and he was more concerned with the amount of water retained in that area and felt the existing drainage was not adequate or properly installed. (Last summer we determined that it is clogged.) Rick recommends a cut and cover style of drainage and at least 2, maybe 3 systems. The upper leg can tie into the lower one near the gate in the fence.
The sidewalk area water needs to be collected and routed below the black top surface of the parking lot. Last summer we determined that the parking lot is covered in asphalt with 3 to 6 inches of rocks put on top, and that the first 5 to 6 feet from the road were dug up to install drainage in the 1980s. That drainage is no longer working.
He felt a simple drawing and plan submitted to the city for approval should suffice for a permit, but if the city wants a more detailed plan, a civil engineer would be able to draw one. Rick did not feel we need to spend the money on getting a plan developed, unless the city requires it.
Pool Opening Preparations – Nancy Krueger
5 lifeguards are lined up, 2 of whom want to teach swim lessons, including one Navy Seal trainee (Joanne Avaiusini’s grandson)! The pool will open on May 23rd.
Architecture Committee
The board is in conversation with homeowners in regards to trimming a high hedge. This is expected to be resolved in the near future. Heather Salton has agreed to serve on the committee.
The spruce trees by the pool will be professionally trimmed (hopefully before pool opening) and “wind sailed” to open up views. These trees are large enough that they will probably need city permits to be removed. We discussed taking them out gradually, perhaps a couple per year and replacing them with something more suitable that won’t grow as tall and won’t drop needles into the gutters.
Annual assessments
We have 15 owners late on the 2015 payments. First late notices have gone out. 2 owners are a year or more in arrears. One of these has made arrangements to pay within the month. We will file in small claims court against the one who has refused to pay.
April Transactions
Income $15,470 Assessments
Expenses
$11 Permits (payroll)
$1408 Taxes & Licenses
$273 Utilities
Stream Mitigation Project Update
On Tuesday, April 28, Ken and Vicki met with the Federal Way Planning Manager, Isaac Conlen, and the Code Compliance Officer, Chris Freel. The city agrees to the following:
After a review of property lines, it is determined that only one tree was cut on Mar Cheri property. Mar Cheri is responsible for the mitigation costs in proportion to the number of trees cut that were on our property out of the entire cut. This will probably fall in the 5 to 10% range. By rough count, there were about 20 trees cut.
Because the east side of the stream on our property was not disturbed, we are not required to do any formal mitigation on our side of the stream.
Because we have boundary maps from 2006 that clearly identify the buffer zone to be 50 feet from the stream, we can keep the 50 foot buffer instead of being required to maintain a 100 foot buffer. (Note: the pool area is also recorded as being in a critical erosion area, so the entire area from the stream and up the east hill is considered special case and permits will be necessary for any future drainage work and/or tree cutting).
The city will be in contact with Dr. Cheng, the new owner, to ensure that he is aware that as the property owner of approximately 95% of the mitigation area, he will be responsible for moving the project ahead. We will support the effort by paying our share, but cannot enter into contracts for work to be performed on property we do not own.
Because we have already paid for the mitigation plan, our financial involvement may already be fulfilled.
Even though we do not have to follow the formal mitigation plan on the east side of the stream, we will remove the blackberries and try to keep the reed canary grass (and other invasive species) under control with mowing and perhaps planting with the natives recommended in the mitigation report.
The mitigation plan requires that the new plantings be done between October and February, so the area will continue to be an eyesore through the summer, but hopefully the area will be cleared and covered with mulch soon.
Our next meeting will be held at 7 pm on June 2, at the pool. Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm.